New imaging technology to identify cancers that require aggressive therapy

TheoryLab

A key challenge in treating some cancers is the ability to distinguish tumors that are likely to metastasize from indolent disease that can be managed with active surveillance. Dr. Peder Larson has developed a non-invasive imaging method based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure the rate at which a tumor creates lactic acid and transports it out of cells. In this conversation he explains how the technology works and how he hopes to create imaging biomarkers to identify cancers that require aggressive therapy. 3:13 – Peder Larson, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Residence and a Principal Investigator in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the University of California, San Francisco. He’s also a core member of the joint UC Berkeley–UCSF Graduate Program in Bioengineering. 4:13 – How oncologists use imaging data 8:57 – How does MRI work? 13:11 – How MRIs are used in treatment decisions… 15:56 – …and some of their limitations 17:44 – How we could use MRIs to understand cancer metabolism 21:55 – On the special type of MRI focused on differences in metabolism, called Hyperpolarized carbon-13 magnetic resonance imaging, how it works, and why it’s so cool 25:43 – How he’s improved this technology 28:57 – The impact of ACS funding on cancer research 31:25 – A message he’d like to share with cancer patients, survivors and caregivers